Battle of Winslow
The Battle of Winslow as a battle between the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion for control over the city of Winslow in Arizona. After the NCR took control for most of Sedona on October 2nd, 2282, the 4th Independent Mobile Brigade, a mechanized infantry and cavalry unit with armored support consisting of about 1000 soldiers was dispatched east from Flagstaff to take the Legion outposts on I-40 to the east, including Winslow and Holbrook. The Legion garrisons in these towns had been reduced drastically, their forces being levied first to defend first Flagstaff and then in attempt to hold off the Southern Arizona Offensive making its way towards Phoenix. This left Winslow with only about 400 Legion troops defending it. The flat desert terrain around the Winslow was ideal for an encirclement maneuver with mechanized infantry, cavalry, and armor. Encirclement The first operations over Winslow took place on October 2nd, 2282, when an NCR F-80 fighter equipped with camera equipment flew over the city, taking aerial photographs of Legion positions in the city, allowing the NCR to locate their defenses for air and artillery strikes. Actual combat operations began at 0800 hours on October 4th, 2282, when a flight of three F80 fighter jets and 4 Vertibird gunships of the NCR Air Force launched an attack run on Winslow. The aircraft bombed and launched strafing and rocket attacks on the Legion defenses, concentrated in a series of trench lines, fortified structures, and dug-in artillery guns (used as improvised anti-tank weapons) on the west and south side of the city, including the crossroads of Highway 88 and I-40, as well as After the initial attacks by the fighters, the Vertibird gunships attacked with guns and rockets. When they attempted to approach the the heavily fortified crossroads area, however, they found that a number of Legion heavy weapons, including miniguns and .50 caliber machine guns remained intact, forcing them to retreat beyond a range of 2000 meters. The Vertibirds were nonetheless able to fire several salvos of rockets from beyond the range of the guns before retreating. After four hours of bombardment, at 1200 hours, the ground assault began, with NCR mechanized infantry and supporting armor easily seizing a few outer positions west of Winslow, before a force of about 400 NCR troops, including the bulk of the tanks, assaulted the most heavily defended positions near the crossroads of I-40 and Highway 87, which held most of the Legion defenders, with over 150 troops and almost all of the few AFVs and heavy guns that survived the air and artillery assault. The remainder of the NCR troops, which included mechanized infantry transported in trucks and pre-war APCs, as well cavalry, which included a regiment mounted on camels (the descendants of pre-war circus and zoo specimens), and a handful of tanks for heavy support. By 1300 hours, the south flanking forces managed to take the ruins of Winslow Airport, and the north force had taken the remains of a pre-war service station and restaurant on the north side of Interstate 40. By 1330, a force of 200 mechanized infantry had seized the bridge over the Little Colorado over on the east side of Winslow. While the flanking forces saw little resistance, the force attacking the crossroads suffered far greater resistance, which resulted 30 NCR troops killed in action, as well as three APCs and a tank destroyed by Legion artillery and rockets. The Legion, however, were overwhelmed by the firepower of the NCR tanks and other weapons, and position captured by 1330 hours, with about 100 Legion KIA and the bulk of the few Legion artillery guns and vehicles being destroyed or capture. With the fall of the fortifications at the crossroads, the NCR forces began pushing into the city from the west, north, and east. Taking the Downtown With the town encircled by 1400 hours, the NCR forces began advancing into downtown Winslow. The outermost buildings of the downtown, including the La Posada Hotel and train station to the south, the hospital to the north, and a group of commercial structures to the east fell quickly, being easily capable of being bombarded into submission but NCR tanks using direct fire. As NCR forces advanced deeper into the city, Legion positions proved more difficult to target with direct fire, often necessitating the use of artillery or mortars, but Legion resistance quickly began to fragment. Many groups of Legion soldiers, realizing they were outnumbered and having heard rumors of the fall of their capital, surrendered to NCR forces. Others, however, stubbornly dug in and prepared to make a last stand in structures in the residential and commercial areas of the town. One of the largest groups of holdouts occupied a pre-war elementary school, having place rocket launchers, snipers, and machine guns guarding the roads approaching the building. Many of the NCR losses, including two APCs were sustained in this period of the fighting. When encountering particularly tough opposition, NCR forces would often make a tactical retreat and call in mortar and artillery strikes on the target. NCR forces would then advance on the ruined structure, with tanks and APC proving cover and fire support for the infantry, who cleared out the ruins in close combat. By 1800 hours, most of the Legion holdouts had been cleared from the city. Aftermath The battle ended in a decisve victory for the NCR and saw the 1st Independent Mobile Brigade secure Winslow within a day and capture large stocks of Legion vehicles, artillery and other weapons. Captured Legion equipment was integrated into the NCR ranks and was eventually used in later battles and operations. With Winslow secure, the Legion had lost a major strategic site for their artillery units and were left at a major disadvantage. The NCR and her allies had also benifited from the fact that Winslow as a logistical center for the Legion and their forces in Eastern Arizona would suffer from supply issues and suffer in their combat performance throughout the rest of the offensive. Category:Battles Category:Events